It’s been sixteen years since the Battle of Hogwarts and JK Rowling tweeted about it this morning.

Rowling confessed that she “hated killing some of those people.” As of this writing, the Harry Potter author’s message has been re-tweeted more than 83,000 times. Which of the characters do you love most?

There’s more here. I’ve never read the Harry Potter series, but love Rowling’s other fiction. I always feel as if I’m missing out on something. But that kind of kid/fantasy thing wasn’t for me as a kid and it’s just not for me now.

Book Promotion Boot Camp

This kind of surprised me because from the way it looks it’s being sponsored by Mediabistro. I’m not knocking it. I think anything writers can learn about book promotion is probably helpful, if it pays off. But this course is not cheap. And I wonder if it talks about the more furtive side of book promotion that honest authors are up against now. You know, trying to compete against “the other ones” who pay for fake five star reviews, put books up early for pre-release and start hawking the bestseller lists, pay for fake awards, have illegal contests…and well, etc… You get my point. You can’t be an honest writer promoting a book these days without knowing what you’re up against in the old wild west of book promotion where it seems everything is fair game. In fact, I’m starting to wonder if it’s possible to be an honest writer anymore.

Our brand new boot camp, Book Promotion & Publicity starts July 10! In this intensive boot camp, you will learn the publicity skills needed to ensure a successful book launch using various promotional techniques, whether you’re an author who’s already working with a big publisher or are self-published! Register before May 29 and save $50 with Early Bird Pricing! Register now!

The regular course price is $349. If you register now it’s $299. You can also register for weekly webcasts. If you do that now they are $199, regularly $249.

I’m putting a call out to anyone who has taken this course or will be taking it. I’d like to know how much it helped you after all is said and done. And I’m not talking about how much valuable information you gained that made you a better person. I’m not talking about how it helped you grow emotionally and spiritually. I’m talking about whether or not you at least doubled your $349 investment. Because we’re talking about writing as a business, not a funtime hobby. And I would want to at least double my investment with something like this. I would expect it. Feel free to contact me here: rfieldj@aol.com I’ll even give you and open blog spot for that day to post whatever you wish. If the course did help you I think you should share. If it didn’t, I would hope that you’d want to share.

9 Great Books That Almost Didn’t Make It

We talk about how rejection is subjective to the point where it often becomes cliché. However, it’s true and no one should ever take rejection seriously. But rejection isn’t the only reason some books almost never made it. Here’s a list of 9 great books that almost didn’t get published for various reasons.

In John Updike’s “Rabbit, Run,” protagonist Harry Angstrom contemplates his escape from the confines of his mid-century, middle-class American life. He observes, “There is this quality, in things, of the right way seeming wrong at first.” Angstrom’s no sage — he goes on to do some pretty terrible things — but there’s truth in this insight, especially when considering how many classic novels were originally rejected by perfectly smart and capable publishers. The most commonly-cited excuse? The stories were just too different.

Author of over 100 published LGBT romance novels and stories, including AN OFFICER AND HIS GENTLEMAN and best selling VIRGIN BILLIONAIRE SERIES. Hates beets.
New Hope, PA Palm Springs, CA
ryan-field.blogspot.com